Raw Cashew Dreamcake

Holy Mother of Pete. Why haven’t I done this before?I’m talking about raw cheesecake, and I suppose the reasons I haven’t made one yet now seem like silly excuses. I feel like a frickin’ kitchen magician, people. Join me.

Now, I am not pretending I came up with this brilliant idea – I bet making cheesecake out of nuts has been around as long as vegans have tried making meat out of gluten. I ate more than my fair share of these in California, as raw is all the rage, and there must have been a nut-based cheesecake on every heaven-sent menu my hungry gaze graced. What a mouthful. Needless to say, I was inspired, and a bit more than curious to see if I too could play magician in my own kitchen and turn cashews into cream. Check.

Now onto the flavouring. The rad thing about this dessert, besides its short ingredient list, is its versatility. I chose to make a vanilla/raspberry combo, but please don’t let that stop you from experimenting! If you like blueberries, use ‘em. If you’re a chocolate lover, throw in a few heaping tablespoons of raw cacao (oh yea, that’s the next one). How about trying something more exotic like mango and goji berries? The sky is the limit and your tummy is growling, I can hear it from here. Just remember to use the lemon juice with whatever flavour you decide on – it’s crucial to have the extra liquid for blending, and it gives that tangy “cheesecake” taste you’re after. Yay.

This is one dessert that is seriously hard to mess up. The only snafu is that you need a pretty powerful machine to pulverize the cashews, even after they’ve been soaking overnight. I tried using a food processor and it worked, but the cream wasn’t totally silky smooth, as with my Vita-Mix. I think a good blender with various speeds and settings would do the trick – jack it up to maximum power and see what happens. Regardless, the filling is delectable, even if not velvety soft. Cheesecake? Good for me?Um, yeah. Not as in an eat-for-breakfast-everyday kind of way, but to replace your animal-fat heavy, sugar-laden, digestion-halting regular cheesecake? Absolutely. Here’s the deal: this cheesecake is raw, meaning that all the powerful vitamins, minerals, and enzymes present in the whole foods you use to make the cake remain in tact. Instead of an atom bomb of empty calories in your belly, you actually have a handful of fruit, nuts, and raw honey swimming around, and your taste buds are none the wiser. Ha! Fooled you again…

The Skinny on Coconut FatI get a lot of questions about coconut oil, as it is high in fat and people still seem to be terrified of this. To clear things up, coconut oil does contain saturated fat, but lucky for us, it comes in the form of medium-chain triglycerides (or MCTs). This type of fat differs from the types of fat we normally consume from both plant and animal sources, which are long-chain triglycerides (or LCTs). Without getting too technical, MCTs are easily digested, absorbed, and utilized in the body because their molecules are smaller than those from LCTs. This means that unlike other fats, they require less energy and fewer enzymes to break them down for digestion. They are an excellent choice of fat for active people and athletes as MCTs digest immediately to produce energy and stimulate metabolism. They are also ideal for those who suffer from digestive disorders and are often given in hospitals to provide nourishment for critically ill people who have trouble digesting fat.

Directions:1. Place nuts and dates in a food processor with sea salt and pulse to chop until they are to your desired fineness (process a finer crust longer than a chunky one). Test the crust by spooning out a small amount of mixture and rolling it in your hands. If the ingredients hold together, your crust is perfect. Scoop out crust mixture in a 7” spring-form pan (if you don’t have a spring-form pan, use a pie plate lined with saran wrap), and press firmly, making sure that the edges are well packed and that the base is relatively even throughout. Rinse food processor well.2. Warm coconut oil and honey in a small saucepan on low heat until liquid. Whisk to combine.3. In the most powerful food processor / blender you own (you decide which one has the most torque) place all filling ingredients (except raspberries) and blend on high until very smooth (this make take a couple minutes so be patient). If you have a Vita-Mix, absolutely use it.4. Pour about 2/3 (just eyeball it, you can’t make a mistake!) of the mixture out onto the crust and smooth with a spatula. Add the raspberries to the remaining filling and blend on high until smooth. Pour onto the first layer of filling. Place in freezer until solid.5. To serve, remove from freezer 30 minutes prior to eating. Run a smooth, sharp knife under hot water and cut into slices. Serve on its own, or with fresh fruit. Store leftovers in the freezer (what leftovers?).

Made this with wild blueberries instead of raspberries and I couldn’t stop licking the spoon. I’ve tried a number of cashew “cheese”cakes but this tops them all! I’ve also had th is recipe with raspberry and with a chocolate sauce and plain. All are yummy but blueberry has by far topped the charts. Thank you for such a fantastic recipe. Only thing I have ever modified is adding a pinch of cinnamon to the crust. Not needed but I thought it would be fun.

I really want to try this rawcake, looks so delicious!
At the moment I don’t have any agave nectar and I’m not able to buy it.
Can I replace it with normal white sugar? How much would I probably need?
It doesn’t have to be healthy so it would be great if white sugar is possible.
(honey is not possible because it should be vegan)

This is my first raw cheesecake and it’s busy setting in the freezer for Fathers day tomorrow. Hubby and I got to lick the utensils clean and already know it’s going to be AMAZING! I’ve been bowled over every time how versatile cashews are. Love it in your broccoli soup (a staple in our home). God bless you!

**allergy alert!!**
This is so darn good, so I’m really sad to post this (I haven’t read through all comments so maybe I’m not the first). I made this for my husband’s birthday. Added a 3rd blueberry layer too, and garnished with mint. All sooo good! A while later he reported flu-like symptoms. A bit more time passed and his gut went wild. Then he was up in the middle of the night, really sick and then completely fatigued and in bed until noon. It turns out that raw cashews contain a toxin that is in the same family as poison ivy, and which many respond poorly to. Poor guy, we didn’t ID the problem until we had leftovers tonight, and the symptoms returned. And he began googling. And took a Benadryl. He’s fine now! Just wanted to share in case there are any adverse effects among your eaters! Darn, because it’s sososo tasty!

I made mine with dry roasted cashews for this same reason with no adverse problems. I would love to have added the blueberries for a 4th theme but I am allergic to blueberries and they do the same thing to me as what happened to your husband so he might have gotten double whamy….glad it wasn’t too serious…..

This cake is amazing!! Thank you so much for the recipe. I have been cooking recipes from your blog for years now, also have your first cookbook. You are very very talented. Do you know they sell your ‘life changing loaf of bread’ on a market in London?? Thank you for everything.

OH MY WORD….this is soooo good. I’ve never had raw cheesecake before but wow am I amazed at how this turned out. Tastes exactly like cheesecake. Tha BOMB!!! The only thing I changed was I used maple syrup instead of honey or agave and made it into mini cheesecakes. My little guy won’t leave the freezer alone. He keeps trying to sneak a cheesecake. Thanks so much for sharing!!!

This cake is amazing! I’v made it a number of times using a different fruit each time. My best was with mango. I increased the recipe by a about .25 and use a 24cm spring pan.

I love your approach to healthy cooking. Although I don’t buy cookbooks any more (there are so many great recipes online) I did purchase your My New Roots cookbook about a year and a half ago. It’s full of excellent information and very special recipes. I have made several of them and they were all delicious. You are truly talented!
Thank you!!!

Glad I found this. My neighbor just brought this to our Friendsgiving and Oh. My. God. She did it with agave and it was brilliant. As someone who usually doesn’t do desert because I’m sugar intolerant, this was not only the best thing ever, but I could eat it without getting sick.

Looks better than real cheesecake. Truly dream come true. We have been experimenting with various different sweeteners at Zippy Cook and are finding that changing sweeteners could be tricky. Has anyone tried this with agave nectar as listed in alternatives? Did it alter the taste tangibly? It does have distinct flavor. What about coconut sugar or Truvia? Excited and inspired …

I tried it both with honey and agave nectar, honey is of course more aromatic and richer in taste (specially if you use a very good honey), but agave nectar is also totally good and doesn’t make the cake any less delicious. Altogether taste is very rich and complex (in a good way) – nuts, dried fruit, lemon, raspberries, so the actual sweetener is not what exclusively ‘makes’ the cake. I now make it almost always with agave nectar, as it suits me that sweetener in this case doesn’t have too much character.
I hope this helps 🙂

Hi! Am preparing to make this tomorrow and have a soaking question. Wouldn’t it be good to soak almonds (or walnuts that I will be using) as well as cashews? Am just worried whether the crust will be the same if nuts were presoaked. Also, will adding salt to soaking change the taste of the cake? Thanks!

I just made this beautiful cheesecake. I had to pulse the almonds first then add the dates to make crust ( I used 1100 Watts professional Ninja blender). I can’t have vanilla so almond extract was what I used. Double or triple the ingredients if you want a ” regular” pie size cake. Can’t wait to taste it!!

I looked up a recipe for a tirimisu cheesecake and I’m thinking if you add 3 TB Kahlua, up the vanilla to 2 tsp, and add 2 tsp espresso powder, garnish with a dusting of cocoa powder, that might be a good start….good luck!!

Hi Sara, just a comments about your app, its great that you made one, there is a lot of mistake…For example on this recipe, the ingredients for the crust is missing, also on several recipe, the direction are not in the right order.

hello sarah
I checked out a few recipes online before making this and decided to add activated buckwheat (or buckinis) to the base to give it a more authentic cheese cake biscuit base…. the result is incredible…. faux biscuit base heaven

I’ve just remade this cake with strained raspberries and have realized that when I made it last time I doubled the recipe but did not double the coconut oil and honey. It was thick for sure but the vitamix could handle it. It makes the cake slightly tart, but we liked it that way. The cake held together great.

Hello, I made this for Christmas and everyone absolutely love it! I’m just wondering what ingredient can I use to make it set a bit more? I found that once we took it out of the freezer it started melting and loosing shape. Thank you 🙂

I added a couple of teaspoons of chia (soaked in a bit of water for 10 min) to the mixture. This provided some extra “set” to the cake. I stored my leftovers in the fridge and the cake held together perfectly.

I took this VEGAN cake *gasp* to my very closed minded family Christmas yesterday. I followed the recipe with a few changes. I used strawberries instead or raspberries and a little honey in the nut crust instead of dates.

The cake was a big hit. Everyone really liked it and thought it was very pretty as well. I will definitely make it again!

1. This is a raw cheesecake for those who cannot have dairy, eggs or wheat. There’s nothing fake about it. It uses all natural ingredients.
2. Given the ingredients, you can’t leave this sit at room temperature. It’s supposed to be kept cold. Duh.
I’ve made this a couple of times and it’s turned out perfectly each time. If you’re looking for a conventional cake, you’re in the wrong place.

I made this for the first time…..froze it initially, as the recipe stated….then only refrigerated the following days. It was too solid for me when frozen. The 2 days it was refrigerated I actually liked it better & it held together great. I think you should try making it in just the fridge. It should be just fine. Add a few extra cashews to thicken it if you’re worried.

I just made this and put it in the freezer. I didn’t have the stuff to make the crust so I improvised and used Cashew Cookie Lara Bars. I made one half vegan and the other half has caramel swirled in (for the kids.) Thank you for the recipe. It tasted amazing before freezing so I am sure it will be delightful!!!

i’ve soaked the cashews for only an hour before and it still works! it just needs more time in the blender. a longer soak if time permits is better but cashews are softer than other nuts so you can get away with it! 🙂

I’ve made this several times, with great success. I love it! When I told the birthday guests on my son’s birthday party that it was a healthy cake, they weren’t too enthusiastic. After they had it though they all were, very :p I’ve tried several versions and found the original recipe to work best. Banana was also a winner. Mango not so much. Thanks so much for this scrumptious recipe! It’s very easy to make with a good blender and a working freezer.

How inappropriate! Thanks for bringing this to Sarah’s attention!
I’m curious if you contacted the “thief” as well…..
I’m a first time reader of this fantastic blog and uber-impressed – as well as annoyed on Sarah’s behalf!

Thank you for the best dessert! I have a number of allergies as does a friend of mine. This is our staple when going to potlucks to bring. It’s always loved and at one potluck it was liked over a very fancy chocolate cake.

Wow, this recipe was REALLY good. It got thumbs up from all of my family, as well! I love looking through all the other recipes in your blog as well- they’re so creative and the photos are beautiful. Thanks! -Dorothy

Oh dear..the Australian culture does it again…not properly referencing or acknowledging other’s work. Seen it many times in many situations. Sarah’s recipes and info however are spot on & I guess on the positive side this great info is getting into the hands of the Australian public finally, yet it should definitely should be credited. I actually have the same training as Sarah, yet graduated in Canada in 2000, plus have additional university qualifications, and had fantastic results with clients while practicing. However, upon moving to Australia in 2003 everything careerwise came to a standstill as the Australians had never heard of most of the ingredients suggested and it was impossible to buy things like kale or quinoa at that time. Blogging or having a website wasn’t an option back then so had to move on careerwise into a different but related field…but so happy this blog is doing so well – Sarah seems like such a bright light 🙂 Wish you all the best girl!

How inappropriate! Thanks for bringing this to Sarah’s attention!
I’m curious if you contacted the “thief” as well…..
I’m a first time reader of this fantastic blog and uber-impressed – as well as annoyed on Sarah’s behalf!

Look at that texture!! I’ve been skeptical of cashew-based cheesecakes, thinking they’d just turn out really grainy, but the close up shot you posted looks FANTASTIC!! This might have just changed my mind!

So great recipe!!!it is a long time i want to try something like this..still waiting to taste it all…
just a question.can you inform me the analogy in grams,cause it was difficult to find out,so i did it a little fre-style

Wowww. I just made these, strawberry version, for a friend. They are beyond delicious! I’ve tasted all kinds of raw desserts over the years, including cheesecakes, and never expected my favorite one to be one I made myself! I made them into individual muffin size portions, it filled 6 regular size quite fully. And they’re very cute!
I also added a strawberry coulis on top (strawberries, coconut oil, honey) and it really gives them a little extra kick and enhances the strawberry taste. Amazing.

Thanks for this great recipe (among so so many others)! Can wait to get your book.

When people are still leaving comments after 4 years, you make the cake…. So very glad I did. My version was blueberry,raspberry, blackberry and mango in a chocolate pie crust ( I was cleaning out my freezer ). Sometimes its a really great thing to clean out your freezer…I am already planning my next one….banana, mango with coconut extract…. Thx so much for this inspiring recipe!!!

This was my first every vegan dessert and it was SO delicious! The top layer with the berries was a bit too liquid, but it still held together. I put the cake in the fridge and it worked fine as well! Thank you for this amazing recipe, I’m looking forward to trying different variations 🙂

I finally got around to making this dreamcake- and dreamy, it is!!! We devoured most of it on the first night, and since then my husband has been helping himself to small slivers so it will last longer…and then hoarded a slice for his friend to try when he comes over tonight. WOW! Thank you for this fantastic recipe. I didn’t change a thing.

Love this recipe, have made it a few times. I make it in my 9 inch/23cm spring form and quadruple the recipe! Trying mango instead of raspberry today for New Year’s Eve dinner part tonight! Happy New Year from Cambodia! 🙂

Sarah, you’re a goddess!
I am not even over exaggerating – I tried this cake about two years ago for a potluck but it turned out horrible (I am not pretty sure that it was because I put it in the fridge not freezer and only for little to no time) but I gave it another go about two months ago. It tasted like a dream. A dreamcake.

/ I coloured the ‘white’ base with curcuma and swirled the layers a bit afterwards <3

Hey There,
I have never left a comment but I have cooked some of your recipes, this cake included adn I can only say I am a big fan! I made the dreamcake for Christmas a couple of years ago so a vegan family member could eat dessert.
It was a hit and so many people ate and loved it and asked me for the recipe. I can’t wait to make it this summer.
Cheers,
Julia

Hi, this looks really delicious, but I made a raw lemon cheesecake a Christmas or so ago & it just didn’t taste nice, the texture even felt strange, like ‘play dough’ !!! I do have a toddler & no he didn’t put some in whilst I wasn’t looking 😉 I had to throw out the whole cake 🙁 ….. I am hesitant to try another ‘raw cheesecake’ but will try this one as so many say it is lovely. I think the tartness of the raspberries would balance out the cashew. Thankyou

Can I simply just say what a comfort to find an individual who genuinely understands what they are discussing on the web. You certainly understand how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More people must read this and understand this side of the story. I can’t believe you’re not more popular because you most certainly have the gift.

I have been making this for years and LOVE IT! Recently started on the low FODMAP diet though and the cashews and honey are problematic. I made a few substitutions and whipped up this incredible cake on low fodmap ingredients. Still delicious! Thank you for sharing such a gem of a recipe Sarah! The low fodmap version is on my blog: http://happyeats-fodmapfree.tumblr.com

Hello! I just wanted to say that this cheesecake is the best I’ve ever tried! I made this a couple of days ago for some vegan friends and it was devoured (like you say no leftovers!) Thank you very much for this recipe! In case you are interested I took a few pictures of the final result here – http://sproutingalmonds.com/2014/06/29/a-little-something-special/ Nowhere near as beautiful as yours but it did taste lovely!

I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did. But, holy moly! It was fantastic! …and this is coming from a lady who loves her NYC style real-cheese cheesecake. Made me feel like I was taking good care of my body even thought I was “indulging” in a tasty, tangy, sweetness. It was hard to not keep licking the batter. haha!!

Made this for our Easter dessert last night! It turned our really great! My only comment would be that it was a bit more tart than I would have liked. I would like to try it again with a sweeter berry, like strawberry.

I just made this cake and it tastes wonderful. One note- I used a 10″ springform pan after scouring stores in my area for a smaller one, and tripled the recipe to make up for this. The cake still barely got any height. Next time, I would just use a lined 8″ pie dish as suggested in order to make the cake look like it does in the photos.

This looks delicious and I’d like to try the recipe. What type of Vitamix machine do you use? There are so many models available, I’m not sure which one will yield a perfectly smooth cashew cream like yours. I realize you are in Denmark, not US, so the machines will vary, but I’d appreciate your recommendation for which model of Vitamix to buy. Thanks!

Hey there, I made this this morning for a dinner party tomorrow and it looks beautiful but am worried that I made it a wee bit too sweet. Is there anything I could serve with it to possibly tone down the sweetness?
Thanks! (:

Hello! I’m looking to make this cake at the weekend, so excited!
I am making it on Friday night ready for Saturday evening, should I leave it in the freezer for the whole time or take it out and place it in the fridge on Saturday?

One other thing I wondered is do you have a rough measurement for it in grams i.e. how many grams would you say your cup is – as this seems the perfect size but unsure on what dish to use as I never measure in cups.

Take the cake out of the freezer about 20-30 minutes before serving.
As for grams, I can’t tell you exactly…I only started measuring foods in grams in the last couple years as my readership expanded into Europe. You can look online – there are several sites that will give you the conversion. Here’s a good one: http://www.pastryscoop.com/category/look-it-up/nuts/
Hope that helps! Enjoy 🙂

Hi Sarah! I made this cake last summer and everyone loved it. It’s pretty much better than real cheesecake. I want to make it for Thanksgiving this week, but I’m wondering if you have any suggestions for a seasonal item that I can swap the raspberries out for? Thank you!

For a fall version, I made this with cranberries in place of raspberries and it was very tasty, but also a little too tart. Obviously cranberries are much less sweet than raspberries so next time I would probably add a bit of honey with the cranberries in step 4.

I am obsessed with this dreamcake. I’ve made it for friends, family and just myself and have had rave reviews. People cannot believe that the filling is cashews. Just shared the recipe with a friend looking for healthy, raw desserts and it inspired me to make it again. Now that I have made it a few times, I figured out the best way to get the smoothest filling was to use my Vitamix 32oz dry container. I don’t know why, but it made the best possible filling!

All I can say is WOW. I don’t know how I came upon your website but WOW so glad I did. I made this dream cake over the weekend and I was so pleasantly surprised. The taste is sweet-tart which is perfect but the part I was most amazed over was my cake turned out exactly as your photo. KUDOS and for anyone who is doubtful, fear not this recipe is precisely perfect. Two points I will share I only left my cashews soak on the counter 2hours in warm water and they blended perfectly. I used my Vita mix for both the crust and the filling and it did a magnificent job with both and I only have the blade that came with the unit.
I am anxious to try some of your other recipes. Thank you so much for the wonderful directions and scrumptious recipe!

AH-mazing! I have made this twice now. The second time I substituted the raspberries with seasonal cloudberries (I live in Finland) and added Maca powder. It was really a dream as you call it- dream cake. Thank you Sarah. I feel like a wizard.

OMGoodness! This is seriously the BEST dessert EVER!! If you wanted to mix it up a bit and not to raspberries you can take that second layer (top or bottom) and add cocoa powder and you have a chocolate/vanilla cake. I would eat this every weekend if I could! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!

hello sarah, is there any way i could get a conversion from cups to grams ? ’cause i’d love to try this but since i live in portugal we don’t use cups as measure and i have no idea how to convert it :/

Hi Sarah,
I tried this recipe and it is delicious! Thank you so much!
Unfortunately my top layer was way too runny and it didn’t look as pretty as yours, but still delicious! Next time I’ll use raw cacao on the top layer instead of the fruit, I was reading the comments below and it seems to be really good as well!

I made this for a dinner party and it also happened to be my first time trying a raw cheesecake, one word: amazing! Everyone was so impressed and couldn’t believe it was based on nuts! Thank you so much for the recipe, I can’t wait to experiment with different flavours!

This cake is absolutely delicious! I’ve made it a couple of times and everybody has loved it – which really wasn’t great because then there wasn’t enough for me =D

All of the times I’ve used the firm coconut-goo from a can of coconut milk instead of coconut oil – it’s cheaper that way. One time I left out the honey/syrup and put in some of the liquid from the can of coconut milk which worked just as well, so that’s what I’ll do from now on. That same time I put cocoa in the topping, so I had one layer with raspberry dreaminess and one layer with chocolate awesomeness! That was just great – but I am known to be a sucker for chocolate 😉

Thanks for this GREAT recipe – and others as well! Keep up the good work =)

This dessert was amazing! The only thing that I could comment on is that I needed to double the recipe in order to get a similar size like in the picture!
Thanks again for this great recipe, it was a hit.

I just have to add my name to your list of readers raving about this cake. It is absolutely delicious. And so simple to make! I tin was quite a bit larger than that use in the recipe so the layers were thinner but it still presented beautifully. The recipe is worthy of me buying the right sized tin. Thank you

LOVED LOVED LOVED this and so did everyone that had a slice this Saturday when I made it! Somehow there was a slice left on Sunday and it’s just as good for breakfast 🙂
NOTE::::: I tripled the recipe to fit in a 10″ springform and I doubled the crust and used walnuts in the crust which cut really easily and smoothly. The slices were clean and held together great. I took it out of the freezer about 3 hours before serving and left it in the refrigerator to thaw a bit. Then left on the counter about an hour before serving. Perfection! Cold but not frozen and velvety smooth. I used a Blend-Tec which is an extremely high powered blender (Starbucks uses them) and I actually blended 1/3 of the cashews I used for the top layer right out of the bag – no soaking as I had no time and wanted more height on my cake. I was amazed that it came out just as smooth as the nuts soaked overnight. I love this recipe, I love this “cake” and I will be making it all summer in assorted flavors. Thank you!!

This is the best dessert EVER! And, it is the best in every way: taste, healthiness, ease of preparation, ability to make ahead, ability to make endless variations of it, it is just a hands down winner! Thank you for sharing yet another life-changing recipe!

A word of warning about RAW cashewnuts…they are very poisoneous and can ause bad rashes if not worse. The NEED some form of processing, either steaming or roasting, to neutralise the poison. Soaking and discarding removes some of the poison, but drains the nut of other goodies at the same time. Believe me…I live in a cashew producing country!

My husband and me loved the cake but i do have a question to ask regarding the bottom layer (date and almond layer) which was very hard to cut. I couldn’t get a nice looking piece. Appreciate if you could let me know what i did wrong or a tip that i could use this time and cut it pretty too.

This looks amazing! Just found New Roots! I have the mother of a food processor called the Thermomix which I know will deal with this very well! Can’t wait to try it – having a Coeliac husband will be great for the occasional(???) dessert!

just made this & it’s so delicious, everyone including the kids (who thought it was ice cream!) just loved it. So wonderful to have all these healthy alternatives – won’t miss the NY cheesecake any more! Thanks so much!

First time I’ve ever dared to make a raw dessert – even though I’ve been vegan for years. I always thought they’d be so complicated. I was attracted to this by the pictures – and from the relatively brief list of ingredients – and no scary ingredients like irish moss for example. Turned out I had everything in the house – except for raspberries, so substituted strawberries and no vanilla essence/pod – so just left that out. Now I have to say that I’ve only just completed assembly and put it in the freezer, but what I can say – from licking the bowl/ vitamix/blender and spoons – it is insanely good. Can’t wait for it to get set and to try it properly. THANK YOU for this amazing and easy recipe.

I made this “cheese cake” for my b-day today and my kids fell in love inmidiatelly, now they are asking to have this one on their bday’s and they already have a favorite torta. Thank you Sarah, you made my B-day very “especial”

This is crazy good, I made it last night and already 2/3 of it is gone! All my omni friends have been raving about it, and I’m trying to give it away for fear that I’ll eat it all myself ; )

I made a few alterations – I used cashew butter, because I was a bit short on time and didn’t trust my little food processor to be able to handle the blending. I also only used the juice of 1 lemon, and it still definitely had that tangy cheesecake taste, and used blueberries instead of raspberries. Can’t wait to try more flavor combos in the future. Thanks for the golden recipe!

hi sarah,
how much gram is one cup in your recipes? in europe we usually dont use cup as a measurement – i read its about 120 gram… i tried the cake twice but the cashewpaste is always too fluid. need help 🙂

Sarah, I don’t own a freezer. Do you reckon the cheesecake would still work if i popped it into the fridge overnight? It’s my partners birthday on Monday and i know he would love a fresh fruit cheesecake!
Many thanks for being so fantastic
-R

I modified this beautiful recipe because I was really craving chocolate. I used about 4 TBS of raw cacao in the top layer and infused the entire filling with blood orange juice (in place of lemon) and zest. It. was. AMAZING! Thank you, I can’t wait to experiment with more flavors!

Holy Cow! This is AMAZING! Made it for the first time today and am serving it for guests tomorrow! I doubled the whole recipe and put it in a 10″ springform and used a mixture of strawberries and raspberries! This is a keeper!

I made this and WOW! it was absolutely delicious! I upped the sea salt in the crust, probably doubled, and added the zest of one lemon. SO GOOD! This will be a new part of my sweet treat rotation! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Thanks Sarah. This recipe is divine! My hubby and I love it and I’ll be serving it to my parents tonight and to a girlfriend tomorrow!
I’m interested to try other fruits as well, as the comments above have suggested.
I tried it with frozen raspberries and it worked just beautifully.
This is definitely going to be a regular dessert in my repertoire – thank you so much!

Wow! I did this “dreamcake” this afternoon, and it was SO GOOD!!!!
The raspberry cream reminded me of a little cake I used to eat growing up, called a “bavarois”. I’m so glad to find this taste again, and the fact that it’s raw and vegan is so much better 🙂

I made this last night as a trial cake for my son’s first birthday. Used blueberries instead and walnuts of the crust! It turned out AH-mazing! The only thing that I would alter next time, I’d use almonds and one lemon instead of too. Mine turned out a bit acidic that the edge of my tongue hurt haha

I was thinking, following the coattails of Fab Fermentation Week, of trying a fermented version wherein the cashews might be fermented into a “cheese” base. Any thoughts? Maybe just inoculating with probiotics? I’ve heard of doing this with rejuvelac, but haven’t ever tried rejuvelac… My extra creative juices are flowing now.

I am totally in love with your blog! So inspirational! I can’t make my mind which recipe to try first! I’ve already tried a raw brownie which was a hit and am now munching on almond pulp hummus with carrot sticks 🙂 I can’t wait to make this cake for my birthday in March!! Thank you Sarah!

This was my first time preparing a “raw food” meal and it was AMAZING! I’m so excited to be bringing this to my Fiancé’s parents house! I watched your TED video and I’m going to try and make one change a day. Yesterday was buying Kale (never eaten or cooked with it) today it was a raw food recipe and buying agave nectar. I wonder what tomorrow will bring… maybe some chlorella dream cream :). Thank you so much for having this blog. I first saw it about 6 months ago and have since introduced Quinoa, Chlorella, Tahini, Homemade Nut Milk, and other delicious treats into my diet. Your blog and passion for food are inspirational. 🙂

I’m experimenting with this cake for the first time for Thanksgiving this year… in a pumpkin variety! I think canned pumpkin pie filling would work, but that is not very clean. I fear that just canned pumpkin would not be sweet enough. I will experiment with various spices (cloves, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg…)

This cake is incredible! I just made a cherry/chocolate version, using dried cherries and a chocolate ganache on top (I am not vegan). I cannot believe how good this cake is. One thing though – when I was blending the filling, it got too stiff and I had to use some water. I wonder if it was because my lemons were not as juicy or something….

I don’t know if anyone’s asked you this already, but I was wondering if you can use another kind of nut? I have a friend who LOVES cheesecake, but is looking to be healthier, and also is allergic to cashews – is there any recourse in this case?

I freakin’ love this recipe. I make it all the time.This morning I used blackberries.I have begun seeking out springform pans in all sizes so I can make awesome little pies in all shapes and flavors.Mango-strawberry was crazy awesome.

If you don’t have a fancy blender, you can find cashew meal in bulk in some health food joints. Central Market in Austin has it. Whole Foods does too.

It’s really a shame that I just HAD to double this recipe because my springform pan is 11″. Phew tough. I can’t wait to try it though. It fruity topping tasted like a delicious nutty smoothie. At least the parts that didn’t make it into the pan did.

Hi Chrstine A – the plastic wrap helps you to lift the cake out of the mold after it’s frozen, if you don’t have a springform pan.

Puisor – the lemon juice is supposed to mimic the tart/sourness of a regular cheesecake, but it should also taste rather fresh and lemony. If it’s too much for you, add less next time. It’s all personal preference.

I have just made the dreamcake, but it has a strong taste of lemon. Is it supposed to be like this ? I was thinking that maybe I have used too much lemon juice although I have squeezed almost 2 lemons.

This looks fabulous Sarah- thanks for the recipe! How long do you think this would last in the freezer? I was thinking of making small ramekins for when my family comes and was thinking to do ahead of time. Thanks!

Silly question but when do I lift the pie from the pie dish with saran wrap? Just after freezing/before serving? I’m making this for Passover this weekend since it is totally kosher for Passover. Thank you! I love your blog!

This tastes as good as it looks and I’m about to make it again. I have two suggestions – keep it in the refrigerator. Taking it out of the freezer, even after an hour, still leaves the rasberries partly frozen and crunchy. It stays very firm in the fridge and the rasberry layer is creamy and tasted much better. The other suggestion is to use more crust mixture. It’s outstanding, but very thin, even though I used a 6″ pan.

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This is absolutely amazing! just made this recipe and it is out of this world. Didn’t have the Madjool dates so I used dried cranberries with almonds for the crust. The filling is beyond delicious. I had just soaked some cashews and didn’t know what to do with them, except dry them. They were very bland so I got busy looking for recipes and came upon this marvelous, easy, fool proof recipe. I am new to this type of food preperation and am making changes in my diet. Thank you so much for your recipes.

Sarah!!! This is so divine.. I made this and am hooked – two days later I made again but swapped out the raspberry and used banana with tablespoon of coconut milk also very good.thank you again for another great recipe – I have tried many of yours and love them all!!!!!!Diana

Hi Sarahexcuse the silly question but when i add Saran wrap – do you know how i can get it out of the pie dish like you have above- should i flip it? and won’t the wrap get cut into if i leave in pie dish.i must sound crazy.

This is SOOOO good! I first had this at a friend’s house, who got the recipe from another friend, who got it from you. LOVE it. My whole family loves these! I made them in mini-muffin pans so I could have them on hand for when we need our “fix” of yumminess. Thanks SO much!! ANd I can’t wait to try more of your recipes! Your photography is AMAZING!!

This is absolutely the best dessert item I have prepared! I made it for a retiring raw food co-worker and it was a smash hit. The creamiest most delicious raw dessert I have ever eaten. It even had non raw foodies considering eating more raw! Thanks again for another great recipe 🙂

I just finished making this fabulous cake! It’s sitting in the freezer now, and I can not wait to try it out. It looks absolutely gorgeous. I subbed the dates for dried figs and cranberries. Also, instead of making a whole cake, I made little mini cakes. As a new raw vegan, delicious recipes like this are seriously great motivation. Yum!

This is great! So easy to make and delicious. My friend and I halved the recipe, used double the amount of fruit, and assembled it in a medium sized ceramic bowl. As is noted, the flavor combinations are limitless. I had a hard time deciding on just one combination and considered creating a bunch of muffin-sized versions in a variety of flavorings. In the end decided to just go with one: strawberries and crushed lavender. It was wonderful. Thank you! I can’t wait to try this again.

Hey Sarah, I just wanted to let you know that I tried this wonderful cake a while ago with raw cashew butter. I think it made the blending way easier and everyone thought the cake tasted superdelicious! And thank you for being such a great source of inspiration!

Sarah, FINALLY, I made the cake. If heaven can be packaged in a cake, then this has got to be it! Thank you. -Grace{http://www.alifeunhurried.com/glog/life-is-too-precious-have-a-slice-of-raw-cake.html}

wow, just found your blog and i love it!! i think you and me have the same food philosophy!! clean healthy green eating. 🙂 come check out my blog when you get a chance too! (http://juniakk.blogspot.com) i will def. be back for more of your posts. can’t wait to explore more of your blog!!

I just made this and your pear ginger spice cake over the weekend. I made a few little adjustments to this recipe, but I have to say that it was a big hit! Just a note, if anyone makes this the night, taking it out of the freezer 15 minutes before serving isn’t enough. I recommend taking it out at the very least 30 minutes before serving.At first it was ice cream-esque raw cheesecake goodness and then by the end of the evening the last few slices were velvety heaven. I’ll definitely make it again and will try out your raw brownies next! bisous.

Whoa. I am going to be licking the screen right about now. That looks delicious! I am a HUGE lover of cheesecakes (haha) but have never had a raw semi vegan version. I can’t wait to try this baby out. Thank you for the recipe! Found your site through bakebikeblog and ohsheglows.

I found your blog through Oh She Glows, your recipe is AMAZING! It’d be the perfect “ice cream cake”. I have so many friends that would love this. I made some nanaimo bars with very similar ingredients, but the layers here are so beautiful. Great work 🙂

I love your blog Sarah. Living in India at the moment and made this cake yesterday with fresh lime, passion fruit and papaya. Came out beautifully and our Indian hosts were quite taken aback by the unconventional use of coconut oil, but liked it. Can’t wait to try other flavour combinations!

I made this for my Birthday I just became vegan 6 weeks ago. I got to say this cake was so easy to make and it Tasted Amazing!!!!I love that you don’t need to many products to make it.I will def. try to make it with other flavors too :p Next time I’m trying chocolate 😀Thank you for sharing

I am new to your blog, and officially hooked! I hope you don’t mind if I link to you when I make this for my birthday in a couple of months. Your photos and styling are gorgeous!! Thank you for the inspiration.

Sarah, this looks & sounds utterly divine! It’s so true that your taste buds are none the wiser. When I don’t tell friends that something is raw they have no idea and I get rave reviews! Thanx for sharing, can’t wait to try this one out- and fool a few friends- might be great for Valentines day!

Thanks for the lovely recipe. I am not a huge fan of dates so I’m going to try it with dried figs instead. I too love the idea of the multi layers, so colorful and flavorful. Can’t wait to try this one!

Wow! Thanks for all of your wonderful comments! It tastes even better than it looks if you can believe it 🙂

To answer some questions: I work at three restaurants in Copenhagen: Morgenstedet, Gronsagen, and now The Raw Tribe. Sop by for a visit!

And…as for the person with the blender, I think if you can buy cashew butter that is totally smooth it should work by adding the other ingredients. Great idea! Please let me know how it turns out and I will mention it in the post.

Wow. This cake is gorgeous, and sounds absolutely divine! I will be making this as soon as raspberries are are in season… or maybe I’ll just have to use frozen, because I don’t want to wait until summer ;).

What a perfect dessert! The colors are brilliant.My son is lactose intolerant and I’ve been turning to vegan desserts and dishes to go dairy free, we have found some wonderful things that we didn’t know we could do. This will be one of them. Thanks!

This looks absolutely amazing. I have tried making a raw cheesecake once, but it wasn’t so much creamy and WAY too rich. I want to try this one, it looks much lighter, even though it’s base is nuts… thanks for this!

Holy Mother of Pete is right! I’ve just arrived here from Green Kitchen Stories (the soup is now on my menu for this week) and I’m giddy as a child. Where do I begin with all these amazing healthy foods you share! I suppose I must start here with this vegan ‘cheesecake’ – it would only be right to do so. I won’t waste a second as I include you in my blog roll so as not to miss a post. Thank you for imparting your knowledge of nutrition and sharing such wholesome goodness. (I have visited only one Scandinavian city so far – Stockholm – and looking forward to returning there and seeing others including Copenhagen. May I ask in which two organic restaurants you have your hands in?) Best wishes -Grace.

this looks absolutely heavenly. I have always wanted to make one of these, as the ones I’ve found in California’s raw food restaurants are, as you said, divine. the pictures are all the motivation I need. lovely!

Wow, this does look like a dreamcake!!! I love the contrast of the raspberries with the vanilla layer. I also love the idea of a cheesecake that is relatively good for you. I made cheesecake for my boyfriend yesterday, at his request, but I really dislike traditional cheesecakes as they are so heavy and full of fat. I can’t eat more than a few spoonfulls, but this, I am sure I would have no trouble devouring!